Don Gemberling on Government Info

Thanks to Don Gemberling for sending us a series of articles that were originally published on the Pioneer Press:

• A Price Of Ignorance In Minnesota - State Open-Government Law Loses Strength If Citizens Don't Know It
• Sunshine Week - Accountable Government Requires Accessible Information
• Your Government, Your Information - A Quick Guide To Minnesota's Open-Government Laws
• Open Government - Citizen Sunshine
• Proposed Changes To Data Practices Shelved - More Could Have Been Kept From Public
  

Read the articles

18 August to 27 August

PPD=St Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch
Strib=Star Tribune

PPD, 8/4/07, p. 1C: "Now who do I sue" is a story about possible lawsuits stemming from bridge collapse. It also includes discussion about a City of Mpls. lawsuit settlement that should have been public but was not.

Strib, 8/7/07, p. A1: "Buzz begins over the future of state transportation Comm'r" includes note about MnDOT taking the names and phone numbers (public data) of bridge inspectors off its website because of "possibly threatening calls". (Emphasis added.)

PPD, 8/8/07, p. 1A: "As bridge aged, its rating improved inexplicably" includes following statement: "What prompted the [rating] increase is unclear . . . . " Illustrates need for complete government data.

Strib, 8/9/07, p. B1; 'Popular North Side police official demoted" includes statement by Chief Dolan that reasons were between him and Edwards. Thought this was public data.

Strib, 8/12/07, p. A14: "Out east, E-Z pass gives drivers a fast lane to divorce court" illustrates the unintended consequence of surveillance type electronic "convenience".

PPD, 8/12/07, p. 6A: "Chinese city tracks its citizens" using a system being bankrolled by banks in the United States. (1984 meets Wall Street.)

PPD, 8/15/07, p. 7B: "Teen charged in 15 year old's death" includes statement from sheriff that he is withholding the identity of the victim because "data practices issues". (Names of victims of crimes are almost always public.)

Strib, 8/15/07, p. B5: "Body found near Backus was of girl, 15" contains same statement as above.

Strib, 8/16/07, p. A11: "Rumsfeld quit day before election" does not explain that his resignation letter was obtained using the federal FOIA (Freedom of Information Act.)

PPD, 8/16/07, p. 8A: In Iraq update story about Rumsfeld resignation letter, "The word Iraq doesn't appear. . . ." it does explain letter obtained under FOIA.

PPD, 8/17/07, p. 6A: "FBI director's notes detail meeting a 'feeble' Ashcroft" is based on government data. Similar story in 8/17 Strib.

4 August to 17 August

PPD, 8/4/07, p. 1C: "Now who do I sue" is a story about possible lawsuits stemming from bridge collapse. It also includes discussion about a City of Mpls. lawsuit settlement that should have been public but was not.

Strib, 8/7/07, p. A1: "Buzz begins over the future of state transportation Comm'r" includes note about MnDOT taking the names and phone numbers (public data) of bridge inspectors off its website because of "possibly threatening calls". (Emphasis added.)

PPD, 8/8/07, p. 1A: "As bridge aged, its rating improved inexplicably" includes following statement:
"What prompted the [rating] increase is unclear . . . . " Illustrates need for complete government data.

Strib, 8/9/07, p. B1; 'Popular North Side police official demoted" includes statement by Chief Dolan that reasons were between him and Edwards. Thought this was public data.

Strib, 8/12/07, p. A14: "Out east, E-Z pass gives drivers a fast lane to divorce court" illustrates the unintended consequence of surveillance type electronic "convenience".

PPD, 8/12/07, p. 6A: "Chinese city tracks its citizens" using a system being bankrolled by banks in the United States. (1984 meets Wall Street.)

PPD, 8/15/07, p. 7B: "Teen charged in 15 year old's death" includes statement from sheriff that he is withholding the identity of the victim because "data practices issues". (Names of victims of crimes are almost always public.)

Strib, 8/15/07, p. B5: "Body found near Backus was of girl, 15" contains same statement as above.

Strib, 8/16/07, p. A11: "Rumsfeld quite day before election" does not explain that his resignation letter was obtained using the federal FOIA.

PPD, 8/16/07, p. 8A: In Iraq update story about Rumsfeld resignation letter, "The word Iraq doesn't appear. . . ." does explain letter obtained under FOIA.

PPD, 8/17/07, p. 6A: "FBI director's notes detail meeting a 'feeble' Ashcroft" is based on government data. Similar story in 8/17 Strib.

July 27 to August 4 - Bridge Collaspe included

Strib=Star Tribune of Minneapolis PPD=St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

Strib. 7/27, p. B1: "Pension case settled for 1% of losses" is a story based on government data.

Strib, 7/27, p. B1: "Three trucking firms falsified reports, official affidavits say" is a story based on government data.

PPD. 7/29, p. 9A: "Bush appointee blocked health report" is another instance of suppression of government information. (Similar story on in Strib. on 7/28.)

PPD, 7/31, p. 1B: "Prosecutors admit key evidence withheld" illustrates game playing with government data and inattention to retention policies. It also includes an incorrect interpretation of the Data Practices Act. (Similar story same day on p. B4 of Strib.)

PPD, 7/31, p.3B: "Medication errors cited in Veterans home report" is a story based on government data.

Strib, 7/31, p B1: "City report warned of times to be out of the sewer" is a story based on a government report.

PPD, 8/1, p.1A: "Key bridge in light rail plan can't hold trains" is a story based on a draft report ob trained under the MGDPA.

PPD, 8/3, p. 1B: "High court upholds breath test challenge" illustrates the growth of difficult government information issues when you combine the government with technology and copyrighted computer code.

PPD, 8/4, p. 1C: "Now, who do I sue" is a discussion of the fallout from the bridge collapse. However, it also contains information about a secret settlement in a previous lawsuit.

News Summary - July 4th to July 8th

Strib=Star Tribune PPD=St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

Strib, 7/4, p A7. In "World and Nation" section, a story headlined "Michigan university breaks law in handling killing" describes a cover up of information about an on campus murder. The cover up violates a federal law that requires public reports of incidents of violence on campuses.

Strib, 7/4, p. A11. "She wrote a check, became a target" is a story about use of federal campaign contribution information to harass someone because they worked for a company that does testing using animals.

PPD, 7/4, p. 3A. "Private contractors outnumber troops in Iraq" is based on government data.

Strib, 7/5, p. A3. "Contractors exceed troop level in Iraq" is the Strib version of the story noted above.

Strib, 7/5, p. A8. "Passport crisis diverts diplomats" is based on government data.

PPD, 7/5, p. 1B. "Background checks for volunteers will be free" describes another creative use of government data, i.e. checking up on the backgrounds of school dance chaperones and other volunteers.

PPD, 7/8, p. 1A. "From dreams to desolation" is a story based on government data.

News about government information

Strib=Star Tribune and PPD=St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

Strib, 6/24, p. A9: "The silent influence of Dick Cheney" contains interesting comments about how the V.P.'s office handles government information.

Strib, 6/25, p. A8: "The silent influence of Dick Cheney" is the second part of this series with more information related comments. This article focuses in part on the role secrecy played int he development of the administration's position on torture. Both these stories raise difficult questions about how the history of the Bush administration will be written given the penchant for secrecy and keeping information "off the books".

Strib, 6/26, p. A8: "Cheney's secrecy fits long pattern" is an editorial discussing the V.P. and secrecy. It contains the following quote. "Secrecy is antithetical to the American values of government openness and public access."

Strib, 6/27, p. A1: "CIA releases files on illegal spying in U.S." is largely focused on CIA activities in the 1970's. Can we imagine what kind of spying is going on now that a lot of it has been legalized by the Patriot Act?

Strib, 6/27, P. A3: "Prisoner's bid draws big costs, experts" is a story about a Massachusetts' convict's demand to have a sex change operation. Much of the story is based on documents obtained under the Mass. FOIA with interesting results. For example, the operation would have cost $20K. So far, the State's fight has cost $52K.

Strib, 6/27, p. B1: "Health chief grilled for four hours" describes the hearing about the Health Department's Commissioner withholding information. There was testimony from a Health Department employee that she was told not to put information about these the issue in writing. (Clear attempt to evade the Data Practices Act?)

Strib, 6/27, p. B2: "Court rules doctor's rights were violated, but he may get license back" includes a discussion of part of the Court's decision upholding release of data about doctors under the Data Practices Act.

PPD, 6/27, p. 1B "Told to quit, health chief apologizes" is the PPD's story about the hearing discussed above.

PPD, 6/27, p. 5B. "Court rules for board in cancer doctor case" is PPD story about the doctor issue discussed above.

PPD, 6/27, p. 3A, "CIA domestic spying detailed" is the PPD story about the CIA 1970's spying.

Strib, 6/28, p. A1, "State's drug law goes to Congress" continues the discussion about the drug company payments to doctor's data base. This story includes information that when the reporters first started looking for these reports, they were found in dust covered boxes.

Strib., 7/1, p. A5: Garrision Keillor's column, entitled "The public library: A place of respite, still" is a reminder of why many of us LOVE libraries.

Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 10-16.

Some stories have links to the online version.
Strib=Star Tribune
PPD=St. Pauo Pioneer Press Dispatch

Strib, 6/10, p. B1. "Chasing a cold case" is a story that illustrates the importance of retaining old records in criminal matters. http://www.startribune.com/467/story/1235628.html

Strib, 6/11. p. A8. "Immigration judges often picked based on GOP ties, records show" is a story based government data.

Strib, 6/11 p. B1, "Drivers, MnDOT feel more bumps in the road" is a story based on government data.

Strib, 6/11, p. E4. In the "Fixit" column, which is headlined "Road repair crews are on a roll with TP", there is a question about access to police incident data. The answer says nothing about the access under the Data Practices Act. Another teaching moment lost.

Strib, 6/12, p. B1. "Integration effort can't stop old patterns" is a story based on government data.

Strib, 6/12, p. D1. "Farm subsidies for the rich" is a story based on government data.

PPD, 6/12, p. 1C. "Who gets all that farm aid" is a story based on government data.

PPD, 6/12, p. 2A. "Official accused on unlawful advocacy" is a story based on government documents.

PPD, 6/12, p. 3B "Two arrested in master key prank" includes information about police refusing to release public arrest data.

Strib, 6/12, p. A11. In a column headlined "Shine more light on drug clinical trials", a Minnesota legislator advocates establishment of a publicly accessible data base.

PPD, 6/13, p. 2A. "Congressmen question FBI's proposed data base" is about a plan to create a terrorism data base that would have six billion records. A similar story appears in the Strib, on 6/13 at page A12.

PPD, 6/13, p. 1A. "State cops seize more property, cash in '06" is a story based on government data.

PPD, 6/13, p. 5A. "Hurricane satellite on last legs" is a story based on government documents.

PPD, 6/13, p. 8B. "Agency: Drinking water in good shape" is a story based on a government report.

PPD, 6/13, p. 1C. "State jobless rate edges up" is based on a government report.

Strib, 6/13, p. B1. "A big disparity in graduation rates: is a story based on government data.

Strib, 6/13, p. A1. "State tops U.S. jobless rate for first time in 31 years" is based on government data. http://www.startribune.com/535/story/1241106.html

Strib, 6/13, p. A11. "Poisoned patriots" is a story based on government data.

PPD, 6/14, p. 1A. "Drivers shun car pools despite high gas prices" is a story based on government data. A similar story is in the Strib. for 6/14 at p. B5.

PPD, 6/14, p. 3A. "House votes to fix gun check system" is a story about a development that will enhance government data collection and sharing. A similar story appears in the Strib. for 6/14 at p. A3.

PPD, 6/14, p. 6A. "FBI finds it overstepped bounds in data collection" is a story based on government data. http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_6135147

Strib, 6/14, p. A1. "Victims' advocate being investigated for selling government data" is a story about the alleged theft of government data.

Strib, 6/14, p. E5. In "News of the Weird" there is an item about the malfunction of computerized data in Alaska which results in two months of round the clock work to use paper records to re-create a data base.

PPD, 6/14, p. 1C. "Farm subsidy database is only part of the story" is an opinion column based on government data. http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_6134394

PPD, 6/14, p. 1C. "IRS to revive random tax audits" is a story based on government data which tells us that the IRS often uses random audits not to check on tax compliance but to collect personal data to build better tax compliance systems.
http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_6134420?nclick_check=1

Strib, 6/14, p. D1. "Fed survey sees solid growth, including in Upper Midwest" is a story based on a government report.

PPD, 6/15, p. 3A. "Money rolls in for Clintons" is a story based on filings with the Federal Elections Commission.

PPD, 6/16, p. 5A. In "Nation and World Briefing" section is a story headlined "Intern loses device with state data" about a missing disc with social security numbers and other information about Ohio state employees.

PPD, 6/16, p. 8B. "Scientist says state retaliated against him" includes an allegation that a fired state employee destroyed government data.

June 6th to June 9th

Strib=Star Tribune and PPD=St. Paul Pioneer Press

Strib, 6/6, p. D1. "Minneapolis Wi-Fi boots up."

PPD, 6/7, 10B. "Maybe it should be called Homeland Insecurity Department" is an opinion column including a discussion of a highly redacted Inspector General's report on the Homeland Security Department.

PPD, 6/7, 1A . "U, Google unite to put books on-line" describes the new agreement between the U and Google to computerize books in the U collection.
See whole article below as copied from this link:
http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_6079336?nclick_check=1

U, Google unite to put books online
Pioneer Press - Article Last Updated: 06/06/2007 11:54:20 PM CDT

The University of Minnesota and other Big Ten schools will team up with Google to digitize as many as 10 million books, including 1 million from the U.
U officials Wednesday called the deal a big step in preserving important works - including its Scandinavian and forestry collections - and improving scholarly research by making materials easy to find and search on the Web. Google picks up the digitizing tab, estimated at $60 a volume; the schools pay to get the books ready.
Google will post "snippets" of copyrighted materials and point viewers to places where they can buy the book or get it at a local library. Entire books in the public domain can be searched or downloaded; generally, that means government documents and material published in the United States before 1923.
Visit books.google.com/googlebooks/ library.html to read more.
- Paul Tosto

PPD, 6/7, 6A, In a story, headlined "Rights groups seek end to secret U.S. detentions" includes descriptions about FOIA brought which try to reveal the extent of the detentions.

Strib, 6/7, A1 "Study of 3M chemicals, no cancer cluster is found" summarizes the results of a government study.

Strib, 6/7, A1. "U deems its library collection Googleworthy" is similar to the PPD story noted above.

PPD, 6/8, 5A. "Report: CIA prisons in Poland, Romania" is a story based on a report of a European government agency.
http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_6088029

PPD, 6/8, 5A. In a mini-editorial, headlined "Make FOIA Stronger", paper calls on Congress to enact pending improvements to FOIA

PPD, 6/9, 5A. Story, headlined "Why withhold officer's name?", discusses, among other things, the basis in the Data Practices Act for not releasing the name of the undercover officer involved in a road rage incident.

PPD, 6/9, 5A. Story, headlined "Rash of suicides, attempts infect Indian reservation." is based on government data. However, the story points out the data is incomplete because the computer tracking suicides and attempts was down for six weeks.

Strib, 6/9, A16. "Senate should pass open-government bill" is an editorial supporting changes to FOIA.
http://www.startribune.com/561/story/1234883.html

Catching-up on Government Info in the News

Strib= Star Tribune of Minneapolis and PPD = St. Paul Pioneer Press

Strib, 5/20. p. A1. "High hopes. Sad Reality" is a story about what has happened to the Minneapolis Public Library system. Much of the story is based on government data.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1193775.html

Strib, 5/20. p. A19. "Justices' questions reveal the people behind the law" is a story based on analysis of U.S. Supreme Court transcripts of Court proceedings.

Strib, 5/22. p. E2. "Tracking the cost of war" is a story about websites, using government information, that are devoted to reporting on the dollar and other costs of the war in Iraq.

PPD, 5/28. p. 4A "Anti-terror track record scrutinized" is a story based about the Department of Homeland Security based on a study of government information.

PPD, 5/28. p. 1B. Although the story headlined "Files stolen and identities used" does not involve government data, it does involve the College of St. Catherine's with which many COGI folks have strong associations.

PPD, 5/30. p. 12B. In the Metro/Regional section, a story headlined "City unveils new online crime map" describes how the City of Eagan has put some crime data on line. The City's decisions about what to put up indicate either confusion about what is public under the Data Practices Act, timidity or something else. http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_6015840?nclick_check=1

Strib, 5/31. p. D1 Story, headlined "Thomson, U to connect using speedy Internet 2" describes a coming development by which Thomson West and the University of Minnesota will stream court proceedings to law firms. Given the Minnesota judiciary's long term resistance to cameras in the courtroom, this is an interesting development.

Strib, 6/3. p. A6. This story, headlined "State-disciplined doctors still on drug payroll", describes another use, this time by the N.Y. Times, of the State of Minnesota data base into which doctors are required to report their contracts with drug companies. The story illustrates what can be done with government data and some creative analytical work.

PPD, 6/3. p. 11A "Doomsday plan shifts control to White House" is another story, based on government information, about expansion of executive authority by the Bush administration.

May 4th and 5th

Star Tribune, 5/4, p. B1. Nick Coleman's column, headlined "The Ballpark Boys? They're batting .000 on good public policy", includes comments about Hennepin County treating the amount of Twin's contribution as not public.

Star Tribune, 5/5, p. D1. Story, headlined "Minneapolis Wi-Fi starts next week in Seward", describes the rollout of the City's wi-fi network.

Star Tribune, 5/5, p. A13. Story, headlined "TSA loses hard drive with employee data", documents another government agency losing personal data. Some irony here as the agency is the Transportation Security Agency.

May 1, 2, 3

Strib=Star Tribune and PPD=St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch

5/1. Strib. p. A6. "Olmert rejects call for resignation". The aforementioned call is in an Israeli government report.

5/1, Strib. p. A6. "Study: Arctic sea ice melting 30 years faster than expected" is based on a government study.

5/1, Strib. p. A3. "Report shows sharp increase in terror attacks in 06" is based on a State Department report. Surprise, surprise, the largest number of attacks were in Iraq.

5/1, Strib. p. A5. "Gonzales gave aides power to hire/fire appointees" describes a "secret" signed by Mr. Gonzales.

5/1, Strib. p. D1. "U.S. wants options data withheld" concerns access to the alleged backdated stock options in the United Healthcare case.

5/1, PPD. p. 1C. "CEO'S pay raises hackles at NWA" is based on filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission [SED].

5/2, Strib. p. A10. In Nation subsection, story, headlined "Interior official resigns before inquiry" is the latest development in the case of the Bush appointee who was changing government reports for alleged political purposes.

5/2, PPD. p. 3B. "Dog bites actually declining in city" is based on government records.

5/2, PPD. p. 2A. In Nation and World Briefing subsection, story, headlined "Court widely OK'd wiretaps warrant, among others states that only one wiretap request was disapproved.

Also on page 2A of the PPD are stories similar to those above about the Olmert report and the Interior official's resignation.

5/3, Strib. p. B5. Story, headlined "Keep month of supplies handy", is about a new Minnesota Department of Health website that helps prepare for emergencies. In order to use the site, the user must provide detailed personal information. Similar story in PPD, 5/3, on p. 12B.

5/3 Strib. p. B1 Story, headlined "3M did research on water in 1990's", see the light of day because of documents provided to the state.

April 29 and 30

St.Paul Pioneer Press, 4/29, p. 4A. "Katrina aid largely unused. Documents and interviews paint picture of government bumbling and waste". And so, the Katrina saga of horrible mismanagement continues.

StarTribune, 4/29, p. A6. "'Successful rebuilding didn't last", is a story, based on a government report on shoddy construction in Iraq.

St.Paul Pioneer Press, 4/30, p. 1B. "Victim sought high security" is a story about the alleged failure of a home security system which led to the murder of two people in a domestic dispute. The government information angle is that the security system companies want access to active criminal investigative data which law enforcement will not give them until after any appeals of the alleged perpetrator.

St.Paul Pioneer Press, 4/30, p. 5B. "Wolfowitz bank seek graceful parting" updates us about the Wolfowitz scandal at the World Bank and includes an information aspect in that Wolfowitz's attorney is threatening to get information about Bank salaries and perks and make that information public.

St.Paul Pioneer Press, 4/30, p. 2A. Story, headlined "Google pushes for public data", describes how Google, with changes in its software, wants to work more closely with state governments to have Google used as a public access tool.

St.Paul Pioneer Press, 4/30, p. 2A. Story, headlined "Traffic stops still target minorities", is based on a federal study. Similar story appears in 4/30 StarTribune on p. A3.

St.Paul Pioneer Press, 4/30, p. 3A. Story, headlined "Report will increase pressure on Olmert", about a soon to be published Israeli government report on the latest war in Lebanon. Similar story appear in 4/30 StarTribune on p. A9.

One story in particular is incredible.

Fairly quiet lately but one in particular is incredible.

St.Paul Pioneer Press 4/25, p. 1A. Story, headlined "U archives unvarnished look at war detainees", describes an archive of government documents that are on a U web site that is describing some terrible things that have happened to some of the Guantanamo detainees and their families. The story also contains the following comment on what some federal flacks think of freedom of information.

" A Defense Department spokeswoman acknowledged the U documents were originals sent to the ACLU, but she declined further comment.

'Further dissemination of this material isn't in the spirit of the FOIA program,'
spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said."

St.Paul Pioneer Press 4/25, p. 4A. Story, headlined "Stories of war 'war heroics' criticized", illustrates why actual records of government are needed to check against official lies.

St.Paul Pioneer Press 4/25, p. 4A. Story, headlined "America marks 500 years on map", is about the 500th anniversary of the creation of the first map that used the term America to describe this hemisphere and illustrates why government archives and the money for them are so important.

St.Paul Pioneer Press 4/26 10B, Editorial, headlined "Strong enough to face the facts about threats", commends the U for putting up the document archive.

St.Paul Pioneer Press 4/26 1B. Story, headlined "Sheriff forms 'rat squad' to home in on bad guys", describes a Washington County web site of the County's most wanted criminals.

I am trying, except in special instances, to stay focused on stories about government information. So, here is the latest.

StarTribune, 4/21, p. A11. Story in Nation section, headlined "Social security numbers exposed", is about another poorly protected government website.

StarTribune, 4/21, p. B3. Story, headlined "Twins' extra money for stadium is confidential", is about Hennepin County refusing to disclose how much extra money the Twins are kicking in to pay for the stadium site.

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/21, p. 4C. Story, headlined "Google deal hits privacy question", discusses some of the privacy implications of Google buying Doubleclick which has a bad reputation for tracking and selling information about people's Internet usage.

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/21. p. 4A. Story, headlined "Social Security data found online", is the St Paul take on the Department of Ag. data.

StarTribune, 4/22. p. A21. Story, headlined "Report: penalties for abuse nursing home inadequate", summarizes another GAO report the problem of nursing home abuse.

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/23. p.3A. In Nation/Word section, story, headlined "Audit finds more waste by FEMA", is another government report documenting federal management failure and possible corruption.

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/23. p. 3B. Story, headlined "AT&T backs cable bill to expand market", is a Wisconsin story based on campaign contribution reports.

St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/23. p. 8B. Story, headlined "Librarians boost immigrant services", describes how out-state libraries are helping immigrants particularly with bilingual materials.

The latest update from two local papers.

4/7 PPD, p. 6A. Story, headlined "Global warning papers softened by U.S., China", is another example of politics trumping science in government information.

4/8 PPD, p. 1A. Story, headlined "When drug firms pay doctors, what do they get?", illustrates what we can all learn from state information. http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_5616131?nclick_check=1

4/8 PPD, p. 1B. Ruben Rosario's column, headlined "Prosecutor's office loses its way" illustrates the reluctance of government agencies to provide access to embarrassing information.

4/8 PPD, p. 3D, Story, headlined IRS Lax in preventing ID Theft", is another in a continuing series of instances of government computers,full of personal information,being lost or stolen. (500 IRS laptops lost or stolen over a 3.5 year period.

4/8 Strib, p. A3. Story, headlined "Scientists feel climate report is too weak", is also about politics interfering with science.

4/9 Strib, p. A9. Story, headlined "Iraq's resilient symbol of hope: the library" includes information about a unique role for a library director - finding guns and ammo to protect the library.

4/9 Strib, p. A3. Story, headlined "Army prosecutions for desertion up sharply", is based on a government report.

4/9 Strib. p. A8. Story in Nation subsection, headlined Effort to catalog all species living tops 1 million", is about the work of the National Museum of National History.

4/9 PPD, p. 2A. Story: headlined "Army cracks down on targets deserters", is similar to Strib story above.

4/9 PPD. p. 4B, Story, headlined "Used car title search settlement criticized", is about Carfax and its access or lack thereof to public records that it uses to develop car histories.

4/10 Strib, p. A1 Story, headlined "Ex-Viking Marshall gets pardon for drugs", illustrates the affect of public records.

4/10 Strib, p. A1. Story, headlined "Minnesota joins states backing ban for a national ID", is about legislation opposing the national ID, i.e. driver license, federal mandate.
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1110277.html

This weekend there was a fairly chunky update from our two local papers.

4/4, Strib, p. H3. Story, headlined "Rain barrels for city residents", presents the interesting problem of only being able to order something from the government if you can go to a web site.

4/5, Strib. p. A5. Story, headlined "Sun is threat to Global Positioning System" demonstrates that nature sometimes will overcome technology.

4/5 Strib. p. A7, Story in Nation subsection, headlined "Man pleads guilty to National Archive theft", is about an intern stealing historical documents and putting them on E-bay.

4/5 PPD. p. 6B. Story, headlined "Surveillance operation alleged by a fired Wal-Mart worker", discusses possible spying by Wal-Mart on a number of people including critics.

4/5 PPD. p. 1A. Story, headlined "Mammograms best read by human eyes", is another story about the limits of technology.

4/5 PPD p. 6A. Story, headlined "National Archives intern admits theft", is same as story described above.

4/6 PPD p, 1A, Story, headlined "Justices strike down Photo Cop in Minneapolis, is about the end of the photo cop lawsuit.

4/6 PPD p. 1A. Story, headlined "Pentagon debunks Saddam ties to al-Qaida, is about a government report help us understand reality between truth and fiction.

4/6 PPD p. 9A. Story, headlined "FCC wants better tracking of 911 cellular calls", is one of those good/news bad news technology stories.

4/6 PPD. p. 1B Story, headlined "Metro leans hard on water reserves", summarizes a state study of water use.

4/6 PPD. p. 1B Story, headlined "2 pawn chains sue city and police", describes a lawsuit in which collection and use of customer data is part of the dispute.

4/6 Strib. p.B1. Story, headlined "Caution: Lots of road work ahead", includes a brief description of a MNDOT spokesperson decision to withhold MNDOT ratings of construction impoact from the public until challenged.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1102643.html

4/6 Strib. p. B3. Story, headlined "Pawnshop firms sue St. Paul", is similar to story described above.

4/6 Strib. p. A1. Story, headlined "Red-light cameras illegal, state high court rules", is similar to other photo cop story described above.

Lots of news on government information

3/28 PPD, p. 2C. In the National subsection, a story headlined "Research firm sues to see auto safety data", is about a group that studies tire failures suing the U.S. Department of Transportation.

3/29 Strib, p. E4. in "News of the Weird", the first item describes a website being operated in Finland that allows voters to match their physical appearance with the appearance of candidates so they can vote for people who look like them.

3/30 Strib. p. A10. Story, headlined "Soldiers' VA cure hindered by lapses in use of digital medical data".

3/30 Strib. p. A12. Story, headlined "Interior official altered reports, inspector says", is about another instance of government reports being altered for political reasons. The story also describes release of confidential information to selected businesses.

3/30 PPD, p.1C. Story, headlined "Ridder's clear break scuffed" includes allegations that the new publisher of the Strib took confidential data from the PPD.

3/30 PPD, p. 1A. Story, headlined "St. Paul candidates join You Tube nation".

3/30 PPD, p. 7a. Story, headlined "Bush appointee altered species reports to benefit landowners", is the same story as described above but with a more direct headline.

3/31 PPD, p. 2C. Story, headlined "Technology 'xxx' hits red light again", is about defeat of a proposal to give pornography its own address on the web.

3/31 PPD, p. 1C. Story, headlined "Ridder says exit made in good faith", continues the saga of what Rider took from St. Paul to Minneapolis on his laptop.

4/1 PPD, p. 3A. Story, headlined "Bush fills attorney post with insider" is based on analysis of the resumes of new U.S. attorneys.

4/1 Strib. p. A9. Story, headlined "Many prosecutors had inside track", is the same as the Pioneer Press story mentioned above.

4/1 Strib. p. D1. Story, headlined "In a hurry for ultrafast Internet", is about the City of Eagan looking for high speed internet for the entire city including the possibility of laying fiber citywide.

4/1 Strib. p. B1. Nick Coleman's column, headlined "If Heffelfinger hadn't quit would he have been purged", is Coleman's take, using public e-mails, on the local effect of the U.S. attorney fiasco.

4/2 Strib, p. A11. Story, headlined "From cabarets in Cyprus to drivers in Qatar, dangers abound for Americans abroad, the State Dept. warns", is about a state department cataloging dangers of foreign travel, which is put up mostly for businesses, according to a spokesperson, but is available to anyone.

4/2 PPD, p. 2B. In the "Bulletin Board" feature is an item, headlined "Will the library let me borrow this book? It's 'TOO SOON TO TELL'", is about a technology twist in libraries.

Newspaper Stories Overview

3/22 PPD, p. 9B. Story, headlined "Railroad accused of destroying documents", is about the Canadian Pacific RR allegedly destroying documents and e-mails to avoid their being used in a law suit involving chemical spills in Minot, ND.

3/22 PPD, p. 2A. Story, headlined "Inefficiency curbs world food aid", is another government report documenting how poorly a government program to feed the hungry has been run for the last few years including a 43% drop in food delivered.

3/22 PPD, p. 5a. Story, headlined "Anti-Clinton online ad creator unmasked", is another demonstration of the power of the net and poor judgement of some of the young ones who are adept at using the net.

3/22 Strib. p. A1. Story, headlined "Huckleberry Finn wins first round in St. Louis Park", documents the latest attempt to censor Twain's classic.

3/23 PPD. p. 2C. In the "Technology" subsection there is a story, headlined "Net neutrality studied", about the beginning of an FCC study which will look at how to keep the net available to everyone.

3/23 Strib. p. B5. Story, headlined "Traffic camera bill hits red light", is about the photo cop bill dying (perhaps) in a House of Reps. committee.

3/23 Strib. p. B5. Story, headlined "Funding sought for program to protect battered women", is about another instance of a good program, protecting addresses of battered women, which has not been started because of lack of funding.

3/23 Strib. p. A1. Story, headlined "Doctors ties to drug firms raise concerns", is about reports that drug companies have been required to file with the state Board of Pharmacy describing payments to doctors and for what. It was only recently that anyone looked at the reports. The executive director of the Board is quoted in the article as saying that now that they know there is interest in the reports they may be posted on their web site. http://www.startribune.com/1244/story/1074012.html

2/24 Strib. p. A7. Story, headlined "Memo shows Gonzalez approved of Attorneys' firings", continues to show the importance of actual data in sorting out what our government is doing.
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1076414.html

2/24 Strib. p. A6. Story, headlined "France's X-files - first country to put UFO sightings on a web site" is about another interesting use of the net.

2/24 PPD. p. 1A. Story, headlined "Gonzales, aides met to discuss firing attorneys", is similar to the Strib story noted above.

2/25 PPD. p. 2C. Story, in Technology subsection and headlined "Search suit dismissed" is about a lawsuit brought by a web site alleging Google intentionally designed its index to make the site difficult to find.

2/25 PPD. p. 1E. The Watchdog column has a story entitled "Travel Insurance" which includes commentary about how credit card companies monitor the uses of cards in real time.

3/19 PPD, p. 6B. This is David Broder's column, which is headlined "Accountability matters, but voters wanted a lot more than investigations", in which, among other things, Broder reports on changes to the federal FOIA [Freedom of Information Act.]

3/19 Strib, p. A3. Story, headlined "Smithsonian records show off curator's champagne lifestyle", demonstrates why public records that show how taxpayers money is spent must be public.

3/18 PPD, p. 14A. Story, headlined "Young woman's DNA points to an inevitably grim fate", is about the affect of DNA testing on actual individuals.

Government information in the news

PPD=St. Paul and Strib is Mpls Star Tribune

3/20, PPD, p. 1A. Story, headlined "E-mails shed new light on prosecutor firings", is the latest in the ongoing saga which, from an access perspective, demonstrates how important access is.

3/20, PPD, p. 1B. Story, headlined "Racial gap found in juvenile sentencing", once again shows how records can be used to identify racism in the criminal "justice" system.

3/21, PPD, p, 3A. Story, headlined "FBI data collection may have broken law up to 3000 times", is the latest chapter in this story about how law enforcement violates the law when it goes after information.

3/21, PPD, p. 6B. Story, headlined "Watchdog group faults drug company reporting", is about records on how much drug companies pay doctors and how little anyone notices.

3/21, PPD. p. 12B. Column, headlined "Brain becomes just another scannable, searchable body part", is about technology which scans how the brain works and potentially reveals much.

3/21, Strib, p. A1. Story, headlined "How much do drug companies pay doctors?", provides a little more detail about reports sitting at the state Board of Pharmacy which have been rarely used.

3/21, Strib. p. A6. Story, headlined "Six ranked in top third of prosecutions filed", is based on analysis of the actual performance records of the fired U.S. attorneys.

3/21, Strib. p. A9. Story, headlined "Law makers warn FBI it could lose broad spying powers because of abuse, is similar to PPD story described above but includes more details including an allegation that 600 of the record searches were because of misconduct.

3/21, Strib. p. A12. Letter to the editor, headlined, "Medical Records Bill. Redefines Privacy Right", is a letter describing a bill going through the legislature which the writer believes diminishes medical privacy.

Don G.